Yuri Kasparov: Something strange out of the cage

Yuri Kasparov was born on 8th of June in 1955 in Moscow. He graduated from the Moscow Power Institute (1978) and from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (1984).

From 1985 to 1989 he worked as musical editor-in-chief at the State Russian Central Studio of Documentary Films. From 1989 to 1991 he studied the Post-Graduated course of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Edison Denisov.

Yuri Kasparov is; Laureate of the All-Union Composers Competition (the First Prize for the First Symphony “Guernica”, 1985); Laureate of the Guido d’Arezzo International Composers Competition (the First Prize for the “Ave Maria” for 12 soloists, violin, organ and vibraphone, Italy, 1989); Laureate of the Henri Dutilleux International Composers Competition (Le Grand Prix for the “Effet de Nuit” for bass-baritone, clarinet, horn, piano, vibraphone and cello on the poem by Paul Verlain, France, 1996).

In 1990 he founded the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble and became its artistic director. From 1992 he is a member of organizing committee of the Moscow Autumn international festival for contemporary music. He is also a member of the Moscow Composers’ Union.

In 2005 he started teaching at the Moscow Tchaikovsky conservatory. He teaches composition and orchestration. In 2007 by decree of the President of Russia he was awarded to Honored Art Worker of Russia. In 2008 by the Minister of Culture of France he was awarded to Chevalier dans L’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2009 the popular magazine “Musical Review” named Yuri Kasparov Composer of the Year.

In the beginning of the composer’s career, the works by Yuri Kasparov were often included in the most-prestige festivals such as Pontino (Italy), FrankfurtFest (Germany), Festival Radio-France Présences, Tokyo Summer Festival (Japan), Ensems (Spain), Warsaw Autumn (Poland) and many others.

Performers and organizers of various concerts actions commissioned him to compose works especially for their concerts. Among them are Ensemble Modern (Germany), Radio France together with l’Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (Groupe de Recherches Musicales), International festivals Tage für Neue Musik Zurich (Switzerland) and Feldkirch festival (Austria), Grand Théâtre de Tours (France), Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (Norway), Orchestre Symphonique de Tours (France), Ensemble Accroche Note and Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain (France), CORE Ensemble (USA), Archaeus Ensemble (Romania), Orchestre de Flûtes Française and many others.

His works have been conducted by such known maestros as Paul Mefano, Pierre Roullier and Daniel Kawka (France), Friedrich Goldmann (Germany), Olivier Cuendet (Switzerland), Tadaaki Otaka (Japan), David Milnes (USA), Emin Khachatourian, Valeri Poliansky, Vladimir Ziva, Sergei Skripka, Vassily Sinaisky, Alexandre Dmitriev (Russia) …

Among soloists who premiered the works by Yuri Kasparov are flutist Pierre-Yves Artaud (France), oboist Dorin Gliga (Romania), clarinetists Armand Angster (France) and Nicholas Cox (UK), bassoonists Valeri Popov (Russia) and Johnny Reinhard (USA), baritones Jaques Bona and Vincent Le Texier (France), organist Hérve Désarbre (France), violinist Vladislav Igolinsky, pianist Mikhail Dubov, cellists Vladimir Tonkha, Sergei Sudzilovsky and Alexandre Zagorinsky (Russia)…

His compositions have been performed by such performers as BBC – Wales Orchestra (UK), Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice (France), National Orchestra of Romanian Radio, Ensemble Contrechamps (Switzerland), Schoenberg-Ensemble (the Netherlands), Ensemble 2e2m (France) as well as many leading Moscow orchestras and chamber groups.

Different recording companies recorded many works by Yuri Kasparov. Several profile CDs were issued by Olympia (UK), by Le Chant du Monde together with Harmonia Mundi (France), by Vista Vera (Russia) and others.

For the moment the catalog of the Yuri Kasparov’s works consists of about 40 works for symphony orchestra and of about 60 chamber works, including compositions for large soloists ensemble (sinfonietta).

The music by Yuri Kasparov is widely performed in many countries. The world premieres of his works has taken place in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Romania, Finland, Ukraine, Japan, USA and Russia.

Regularly he gives lectures and master-classes at different institutions of higher educations both in Russia and abroad. Among them are Milano Giuseppe Verdi conservatory, Brno Janacek Academy of Music, Pyongyang Kim Won Gyun conservatory, Krasnoyarsk Academy of Music and Theater.